Civil War politics prevented young John H. Curtis from practicing law in Missouri since, as a Confederate sympathizer, he could not take the required oath of allegiance. After the war, Curtis booked passage on the steamer Waverly, arriving at Fort Benton in 1866 with just a few dollars. He built up a substantial Helena grocery business and moved to Butte in 1880. Considered the founder of St. James Hospital, Curtis also brought the first Sisters of Charity to staff it. Admitted to the Montana bar in 1882, Curtis practiced law and went into the real estate business with Green Majors. Curtis & Majors became one of Butte’s most successful early real estate firms, doing business from a frame building on this site during the 1890s. Curtis ran the business alone by 1904. Sons George and John Jr. took over after their father’s death in 1906. The original frame building burned in 1929 and was rebuilt after the Depression circa 1938-1939. The present building housed Curtis Real Estate through the 1950s.
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